Press Releases
£45,000 benefit fraudster jailed (PR 1105)
A fraudster has been jailed for cheating Ealing Council out of more than £45,000 in housing benefit.
Following a Council investigation, Saima Chaudry, 33, of Cornwall Avenue, Southall, appeared before Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, 9 November, and was sentenced to three months in prison for 10 counts of dishonestly obtaining benefit. She had previously pleaded guilty to the offences at Acton Magistrates’ Court on 13 September.
She has repaid just £108.00 of the £45,857.90 she stole between July 2001 and June 2006.
Chaudry, who is married with two children, had been claiming housing benefit and failing to declare that her landlord was actually a close relative. She chose to withhold this information and pocketed the benefit she wasn’t entitled to.
Councillor David Scott, Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance, said: “These fraudsters are robbing residents of Council services, so cracking down on crooks is an important part of our drive to deliver value for money. These fraudsters will be prosecuted and they will be made to pay back every penny they owe.
“This is a warning to others, if you try to cheat the Council, as well as honest and hard-working tax payers, we will catch up with you.”
Between 2001 and 2003 she was living in Dormers Avenue,
Southall, which was owned by her husband’s brother. From September
2003 she was living at a property in Cornwall Avenue, Southall,
owned by her brother.